430 
THE SUPERIOR AT JULPHA. 
great name of Gregory was almost forgotten by them, and his 
patriarchal chair abandoned for an ecclesiastical establishment 
at Erivan. The power of the Armenian church remained there 
for several centuries, till circumstances compelled its removal; 
and then the memory of the good saint revived, on the transla¬ 
tion of that metropolitan seat back to his sacred structure on 
the plain of Ararat. The Armenians calculate the recurrence 
of the Christian fasts, and feasts, in a way that brings them 
eighteen days later than the falling of ours. 
I have freely remarked on the present state of these people in 
this country, both as to clergy and laity, and with reference to 
their decreased consideration in the respect of the natives. But 
though the observations point generally, they are not meant to 
be received universally ; there being some highly estimable 
characters throughout the empire, both in the Armenian church 
and amongst its people. Indeed, many of the latter, even in 
the humblest stations, instead of following the gross gratifi¬ 
cations and vile traffickings of their own flesh and blood pursued 
by their debased brethren, bear the changed fortunes of their 
nation with a manly patience, and soberly and steadily prosecute 
their various callings. 
The superior of the holy establishment at Julpha, received me 
with all the respect and cordiality I might have expected from 
the letter of his patriarch. But the scene of my welcome, being 
amongst the shattered walls of all that had once sustained the 
consequence of the colony, few but melancholy subjects of con¬ 
versation could be suggested ; and, with musings very different 
from those which pleasingly engaged my mind when turning 
from the hoary spires of Eitch-mai-adzen, erect and bright, in 
the sublime solitude of mount Ararat, I remounted my horse at 
